Directions: |
Directions:1. Roll the puff pastry sheet on a surface dusted with flour to a ¼ inch thick, 10 by 15 inch rectangle. Roll it up from the short side into a tight log 10 inches long. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and let it firm up in the refrigerator for about 25 minutes.
2. Trim the uneven ends of the log and slice the log crosswise into ½ inch thick discs. You should have about 18 discs.
3. Roll each disc to about 4 inches diameter. Grease with butter or line with muffin cups 18 muffin or tart tins. Fit the dough rounds into the muffin cups and use your fingertips to work the pastry around the edges just shy of the rim. Prick the dough a few times with a fork. Refrigerate while you prepare the filing.
4. In a small saucepan, combine water, sugar and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved, about 1 minute. Remove from heat. Scoop out and discard the cinnamon stick. Stir in the vanilla.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks and, whisking constantly, add the warm milk in a steady stream. Whisking constantly, drizzle in the simple syrup. Return the mixture to the saucepan and place over low heat. Cook, using a spatula to stir and scrape the bottom of the pan constantly, until thickened to the consistency of heavy cream, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a liquid measuring cup with a spout.
6. Pour the custard into the shells, filling the cups about ¾ full. Place the tins on a baking sheet to protect the bottoms of the pastries from burning. Bake for 10 minutes until the custard is golden brown in a pre-heated 500ºF oven, on a rack in the top third of the oven. Turn on the broiler to high and cook until the custard has caramelized and blackened in spots, 3 to 5 minutes. Allow the tarts to cool in the muffin tin for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Cool for 10 minutes more before removing tarts from their tins. Dust with cinnamon and serve warm. |
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